The present invention relates to a pen recorder carrying a plurality of pens of different colors, and more particularly to a mechanism for use in such a pen recorder having a single motor for selecting pens and driving a hammer to push the selected pen.
Pen recorders using multicolor pens have a pen holder rotatably mounted on a carriage and holding a plurality of pens. By rotating the pen holder, a pen of a desired color is moved to a writing position. A hammer is disposed in confronting relation to the pen in the writing position. The selected pen is then pressed by the hammer against a recording sheet, and the carriage is moved relative to the recording sheet to record a character, a mark or the like on the recording sheet depending on the movement of the carriage.
The conventional pen recorder has two solenoids employed respectively for rotating the pen holder to select a pen and for driving the hammer. The two solenoids make the recorder large in size and result in an increased expenditure of electric power.